Cres and Back Again | Part I
or A Human’s Tale by The Punk Kobold
A short disclaimer
The length of this text quickly got out of hand. It started as a simple desire to write a short recap about this year’s fantasy festival Isle of Wonders on the island of Cres, Croatia so I could share my enthusiasm and excitement on social platforms, and swiftly grew into a full-fledged essay before you could say “Prestidigitation!” It was never meant to be this long, but when that creative spark hits you, it would be foolish to ignore it. In the wake of realising that even a Bag of Holding would have trouble containing the character count, I decided to publish it on my fresh new blog in three parts, divided by days of the con. I was already contemplating opening a blog themed around TTRPGs for the better part of the year, and this seemed like a good excuse to finally do it. Part I is in front of you, and Part II will follow shortly, with Part III waiting in the wings with some work left to do. I will try to suppress my impatience, relax and take my time with the unfinished texts as much as I can. Besides, unfinished fantasy series and trilogies are the staple of the genre anyway. Enjoy!
- Marko
P.S. No AI was used to write this essay. All hail The Mind & The Quill!
Prologue
It always seemed to me that fantasy and science fiction conventions expect a fair amount of make-belief from their visitors. The burden of immersion is more on the attendees’ shoulders than the organisers’. One obvious reason for that could be found in the venues usually chosen for this sort of festival. Understandably, colossal but colourless exhibition halls and massive but monotonous convention centres can accommodate thousands of visitors with ease and provide a convenient infrastructure contained in one location. But the lack of verisimilitude makes it just one more in a series of look-alike events instead of an all-out celebration of the fantastical worlds we all love. Isle of Wonders blends the concept of renaissance fairs and fantasy/sci-fi conventions in a special way, or to paraphrase the famous words of Dale Kingsmill: “vague (enough) but (extremely) evocative”. The old town of Cres provides the perfect backdrop with its weathered white stone buildings, playful colourful facades and narrow stone-paved streets. Choosing the town proper for the festival's location is just one of its strong suits. It also brings the local community and visitors together to share their appreciation for beautiful diversity and imaginative storytelling. Encountering a cosplayer in this setting, in the main square with a terrifying dragon in the background, a kraken rearing its menacing head in the town port or a troll using the fountain as their kitchen, does not require casting of a Plane Shift spell to transport you to another world, as you, dear adventurer, are already there. So save your Spell Slots, replenish your rations and join me for a (very subjective) retelling of this year’s Isle of Wonders.
– The Troll and his cauldron
On a side note, I did not know what exactly to expect, as this was going to be my first time attending the Isle of Wonders, my second time on Cres and also my second fantasy convention overall, but I did my best to prepare. I was a very eager player of D&D and Pathfinder back in the day, but I sort of drifted from it as life happened. For the last few years I have been slowly coming back to the hobby by GM-ing a few games, attending local gaming cafe “Hero’s Rest” events here in Zagreb and consuming an unhealthy amount of Critical Role and Matthew Colville content. Attending a convention was the Level Up I needed. While looking at the pictures of the festival’s previous two years, I knew it was THE place to be in the final week of June. I grabbed my early bird ticket as soon as it was available and booked the accommodation. With no budget left for a time machine, there was nothing left but to wait.
Day One | Friday, 26 June 2026
or How I Learned to Roll With It and Enjoy the Heatwave
Due to unforeseen circumstances, my girlfriend wasn’t able to join me on this Quest, so I set off on the journey unaccompanied. The travel montage was short and sweet. I packed everything on Thursday and drove from Zagreb to Krk. I used a cheat code and spent a night there so I could be first in line for one of the early ferries on Friday departing from Valbiska. Fortunately the peak of the tourist season was still some time away, so there was not that much traffic. The ship docked in Merag on time, and some 20ish minutes later I rode into Cres on a white (Toyota Land Cruiser) steed and arrived at the hotel well before check-in.
– The moment of arrival to Merag, Cres
I was immediately starstruck at the reception with a Surprise Encounter with Luis Carazo who was just chilling in the lobby as if on the set of Critical Role and talking with someone I later recognised as Marko, one of the moderators. Unfortunately, I rolled a Natural 1 on my Insight and mistook his Paladin's Aura for an Intimidating Presence and couldn’t get up the nerve to say hi. Instead, I decided to make the most of my early arrival and go for a swim. After I was satisfied with my Fire Resistance from applying a dice tray full of factor 9000 sunscreen, I did my open water swim up to the lighthouse and back and immediately took a Hide Action to hopefully gain some cover in the already fleeting morning shadows. I wasn’t ready to risk getting sunburnt on the first day and suffer Exhaustion Levels throughout the convention. The heat was already making me roll consecutive Constitution Saving Throws. I was delighted to see so many other attendees at the beach that I could recognise by their various IoW shirts, accreditations burning tan lines into their necks, cool fantasy-themed tattoos or cosplay-worthy hairstyles. After my room was ready I took a Short Rest to recover some HP and later went to the registration office, early enough to be ready for the day's Main Quest scheduled for 5 PM.
I was one of the five players that took Advantage of their real-life equivalent of a Lucky Feat and got into the Daggerheart session with Rowan Hall on the first day of the con! It was going to be my first time playing Daggerheart and with one of its lead designers, no less. We all arrived early and got to know each other. The other four players at the table were Nox, Lucija, Matija and Mislav. The session took place in the sultry Dungeons of Moise Palace, the festival's main venue, in the heart of Cres old town, under an air conditioner in dire need of a Long Rest while a thinning of the veil between the Material and the Elemental Plane of Fire was in full swing.
Rowan was, in a word, amazing! She was full of enthusiasm and constantly hyping up and expanding on our ideas that we came up with at the table. After a very thorough and fun explanation of Daggerheart basic rules, we got into character creation and collaborative worldbuilding. I never experienced worldbuilding like this before, as I always thought it was implied that the GM is the sole worldbuilder. The way Daggerheart is set up gives players so many more connections and reasons for adventuring inside that particular world at the very start, which in turn provides the GM with more than enough story material to last a whole campaign. Rowan basically came up with the adventure on the spot, which was in itself impressive, using just our worldbuilding prompts and character backgrounds. It was so satisfying to watch her shine the spotlight on everyone at the table during the adventure proper. The battle scene was anxiety-inducing as we were rolling with Fear so much that Rowan was swimming in Fear Tokens, the visual of which made the whole situation even more tense. Imagine more than a handful of small gems representing Fear Tokens resting idly on top of her GM screen, just waiting on unsuspecting adventurers. It is not only a great game design mechanic but also an incredible tension builder on a visual level as well. Even though the actual adventure part of the session was fairly short, it did not take away from the enjoyment of the game even the slightest. Worldbuilding and character creation are so built into the system that they seamlessly become a part of the game at the table. The session was phenomenal from beginning to end, and it left me wanting more!
– The Daggerheart character sheet and cards of my character USB#3 (Ultimate Storage Buddy #3)
After the game I immediately took the Dash Action to the Carta Magica store to buy my own copy of Daggerheart and was already hyped up for the Meet & Greet with Rowan Hall and Spencer Starke on Sunday while imposing the Frightened Condition on myself at the same time as buying the book meant I couldn't chicken out like I did with Luis back at the hotel. There was also a short talk in the main presentation room at the Moise Palace with Rowan and Spencer. We got to know their game design backstories but also their general life accomplishments and work philosophies. Moderator Marko prepared questions based on the Hope & Fear system and made them roll for each question, which was perfectly on theme.
After the talk everyone slowly shuffled to the main square for the Opening Ceremony. As it was hard to see and understand what was going on unless you were in the front rows or at least a second-tier Magic User, I will try to reconstruct the story here to the best of my abilities. A great fallen oak tree from Saint Peter in Tramuntana (Cres) was this year’s mascot and was personified as an Ent. Actors and volunteers carrying a huge Ent puppet and dressed as tiny forest gnomes called Macmalići, unique to Cres, arrived at the main square in front of the fountain or the giant Troll’s cauldron. They were trapped by the Troll and Vikings that sailed into the town port, but fortunately an army of brave Knights arrived just in time to save them, defeat the Vikings and vanquish the Troll. After the fight scene I thought the ceremony was over, and I continued to the Market Place to see what I should spend my hard-earned gold on. After I learnt that the ceremony continued with a procession to the Tower of Cres for the unfurling of the flag and lightning of the torches. Rowan and Spencer rolled dice down the tower and probably broke some unknown or yet-to-be-recognised TTRPG-based world record, and Luis officially opened the festival. I would have appreciated some more information in the program about the general itinerary of the opening ceremony for us first-timers, but it was a minor grievance at best. Nonetheless, I noted that instead of a hotel room, next year I should definitely get a Bastion overlooking the main square to enjoy the opening ceremony unimpeded.
– The Ent and Knights during the Opening Ceremony
The Market Place was full of incredible wares from all sorts of artists and crafters that were sweating at their posts since the afternoon. I decided just to browse for the first day and jot down my favourites for later. Under the cover of darkness, I had my second Surprise Encounter, this time with Jelena, a former work colleague and it kind of set the tone for the festival. We got to catch up and discover that we both had no idea that we were such big fantasy and gaming fans. While talking with her, I realised most of my enjoyment of the remaining two days will hinge upon my ability to relax, channel my inner Bard and talk to people whether I know them or not.
At the tail end of the evening I discovered an incredible local tavern, “Belona” by Plavica, a restaurant I found just next to the Market Place. I had my dinner there for two nights. Black risotto was incredible on Friday, but fritto misto (an assortment of fried small fish, prawns and calamari) with boiled chard and potatoes on Saturday was the absolute Heroe’s Feast in my book. While the band Daridel were finishing up their set, I ended the night with a stroll along the coast to the hotel, and despite my best efforts, I did not get a Long Rest for the next day thanks to the company of a fresh copy of Daggerheart by my bedside.